They were both powered by six-cylinder engines – a leftover from the front-drive VR6 – which were a big-capacity solution to the Mk3’s weight problems. Given the car’s current identity, it’s worth mentioning that the left-hand-drive-only Mk2 Rallye edition, with a supercharged 1.8 and four-wheel drive, also makes an appropriate forerunner.

The GTI may get all the limelight, but for almost as long as that model has been around, VW has conceived of something like the R to outrank it. This senior model is not intended as some rough-shod tearaway, either. Having four-wheel drive, brimming with kit and being both styled with restraint and knowingly expensive, the R is once again intended for grown-ups.

But is it overly mature or modestly brilliant? We’ll know soon enough.